INSTANT MBA: It’s 'OK' To Say No To New Technology

“In the world we live in now, especially in social media and
e-commerce in general, the platforms are changing so quickly.

"There’s new software, a new app, a new widget, and you could be
chasing that stuff all the time. You’re never going to be able to
do it all at once.”

When Herman launched Apt2B five years ago, he only had three
people working for him, and said he started the company because
he found a niche market that was not represented in L.A.

He explained that most young people in the area had only two main
choices when decorating their home—maxing out their credit cards
or going to IKEA. But with an extremely small staff, it was
impossible to focus on getting his company up and running while
simultaneously paying attention to every new technology coming
out.

Instead of getting caught up with every new piece of software,
Herman says it is more important to stay focused on your
company’s original identity and stay true to the basics.

“The hardest thing I’ve learned is that it’s OK to say no and to
pass on some things. In the beginning it’s 'Yes, I've got to do
this, and yes I've got to take this opportunity,' but we weren’t
prepared to do that. We didn’t have the man power and the money
to do all this stuff and we were spread so thin and we were
trying to do a ton of different stuff at once and at that time we
were getting nothing done.”

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